"One is not only limited by the pieces that exist, but the pieces that one owns"

About this creation

Built for the Contest Group Lord of the Rings Architecture competition
This build came and went in but three days. I only noticed the competition on Wednesday, and then found out that MOCpages time is 10-15 minutes behind EST, which is, conveniently (or in this case, inconveniently), my timezone. So, rather than the usual European or American timezones, which would put midnight Friday on Saturday morning for me, I'm stuck with my timezone, giving me no time advantage :(

Here, we have the build from the front
(I know I said i wouldn't do this anymore, but the contest requires it, so...)

A closer view of the river

The Left gate

And the right. Now, here's where the conflicting images come in. Some images show a clear five supports on each side of the front gate, some show four, and some show five on the right, and four on the left. In the end, after trying all three, I went with four on each side, as the other options were too crowded (and due to a lack of 1x1 black tiles)

A (slightly) better look at the inner wall. Its a bit square, but again, built in three days

And here it is : The Tower of Black Sorcery itself!

A better look at the mountain. A bit simple, I know, but we were to be as piece efficient as possible.

A top view

The nice, clean back

And the nice, clean bottom.

There you have it, micro-scale Minas Morgul, built in just three days. Judge away
(Oh, and there's an LDD file, should you want/need one)

*Edit/sidenote
It has come to my attention that this build fails to capture the creepy feel of Minas Morgul, and that I may loose points for this. Judges, please note that I lack a green torch and smoke machine, and a photo-editing program. As such, I was unable to add the ominous green light to the photos.

Alternatively, simply think of this as Minas Ithil (that is, Minas Morgul before the With King took control) which likely lacked the ominous green light, but architecturally is identical.

Originality: 5. I've seen it three times before before, one of those times in this scale, but three times is still less than almost any other LOTR building. It's also really tricky with the curved wall. Nice choice. Build: 7. I think the river seems too wide (one stud wide might be better) and there needs to be a little bridge over it. I also agree that the inner wall is too square. Though just about everything else is accurate, the supports should slope up at the top. Nice techniques throughout, though, and the build just looks really good. Architecture Set-ness: 5. You're the only person who managed to score perfectly here, since there are no illegal techniques, and you really paid attention to piece efficiency. It also looks quite sturdy, which is a plus. Presentation: 5. Nice pictures and write-up, very easy to follow, which makes my job a lot easier. Personal opinion: 5. It looks great, and I can tell that you put quite a bit of effort into it. Nicely done, your total score is 27/30.

Quoting Stephen Boe
Good job! I like those angled walls very much. Although I thinks it's missing an aura of creepiness...and weird scary feelings...Unless this is supposed to be before it was occupied by the bad guys, then that would explain it.

I wish I could have the ominous green light, but I lack a green light and a smoke machine, so lets just say its before the Nazgul took over, which really makes it Minas Ithil

Good job! I like those angled walls very much. Although I thinks it's missing an aura of creepiness...and weird scary feelings...Unless this is supposed to be before it was occupied by the bad guys, then that would explain it.